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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

9/22/2015

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"Over the next 100 days, let us stand with the millions of people across the world who are suffering the devastating impact of violence and conflict. Let us share ideas and plans for helping and supporting them in their time of dire need."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
 

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on the  21st of September. The General Assembly has declared that this day is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.


The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Partnerships for Peace – Dignity for All” which aims to highlight the importance of all segments of society to work together to strive for peace. Differences should be celebrated and loved during this time.


The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by resolution 36/67 of the United Nations General Assembly to coincide with its opening session, which was held annually on the third Tuesday of September. The first Peace Day was observed in September 1982.

         In 2001, the General Assembly by unanimous vote adopted resolution 55/282, which established 21st of September as an annual day of non-violence and cease-fire.

The United Nations invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.

In 2015 Unity Foundation will produce the 7th Annual Peace Day Global Broadcast Celebrating the UN International Day of Peace. The broadcast, which streams live from the United Nations  will also commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the  United Nations. The Peace Day Global Broadcasts promote the vitally important work of the United Nations, its humanitarian agencies and organizations throughout the world working for peace, the environment, human rights, and social and economic justice. Each year the broadcasts give special focus to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals. A Preview of the 2015 Peace Day Global Broadcast can be viewed at www.unityfoundation.org  The broadcast will be presented from September 19th to September 21st.       


The 2015 Peace Day Global Broadcast will feature a number of special presentations during the program including: The UN 70th Anniversary Celebration in San Francisco with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Dalai Lama's 80th Birthday Celebration and Global Compassion Summit, the presentation of the Harvey Milk Human Rights Award to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ringo Starr's 75th Birthday and Peace & Love Celebration, and the San Diego Youth Orchestra's concert in Beijing, China.


The broadcast features celebrations, concerts, parades, and cultural and educational presentations. There are also special messages of peace from celebrities and humanitarians including: Michael Douglas, Dr. Jane Goodall, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Tavis Smiley, Marianne Williamson, Dolores Huerta, Ed Asner, Rosanne Barr, Edward James Olmos, Diane Ladd, Peter Coyote, Michelle Phillips, Soccer Star Tony Sennah, and Three Time Olympian Marilyn King. Through a special arrangement with Black Entertainment Television (BET) and Sunseeker Media the 2015 broadcast will feature Stevie Wonder's "Message of Peace: A United Nations Day Concert" featuring Stevie Wonder, Sting, Wyclef Jean, Jonelle Monae, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and other prominent musicians.   United Nations- http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/


                          Xochitl Yaotl




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Westmoor Student Presents “In Our Own Words” Seminar at College of San Mateo

2/23/2015

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This February, Youth Leader and Facilitator Cyndi Guerrero facilitated a dynamic workshop, at the San Mateo County Youth Conference, entitled “In Our Own Words (Building Peace and Preventing Bullying).”  Cyndi is a Youth Leader of ASK Academy. As a youth leader she is trained in peer mediation, leadership skills and facilitation.


Our group was chosen to present because the overall goal of the "In Our Own Words" youth led project is decreasing bullying in the partner schools and promoting a healthy and safe school environment and community.  The review panel was extremely impressed with the students’ work and invited them to talk more about the program. Through this program, ASK Academy is advancing the leadership capacity of local students, developing conflict resolution skills, anti-bullying strategies, and ongoing support.  The youth are keeping the community safe through group or individual peer to peer assistance.


This annual event, held at the College of San Mateo (CSM), is sponsored by Star Vista, County of San mateo, and the San Mateo County Youth Commission.  Cyndi introduced the youth led project  “In Our Own Words” and its purpose, creating “Bully Free Zones” in schools and communities.  She also mentioned that the Stop Bullying System founder, Shakeel Ali, President of the Governing Board of Education, Jefferson Elementary School District, was present in the room.   Next Cyndi shared how she, as one of the youth leaders, collaborated in the writing of the grant proposal to State Farm for the “In Our Own Words” project. She  participated through  the entire process of creating the PSAs during the fall semester.


Cyndi  talked about the generous support of some of the funders and partners, such as the Mills Peninsula Community Grant, Nintendo Foundation, State Farm, the African American Community Health Advisory Committee, Jefferson Union High School District and the Pacifica School District.  She then showed the PSA’s  and led a question and answer session. The reaction and response from the audience was…. a thunderous round of applause!


Some of the questions she asked were….

What type of bullying was going on in each PSA?

What other options did the main characters have?

What could they have done to get help?

Have any of you ever experienced any sort of bullying?



All hands went up in the room, youth and adults alike. Some of them shared their experiences with bullying. One participant said that he had been bullied for a long time but couldn’t do anything to stop it because he was out-numbered, 10 to 1.  Some of the attendees asked Cyndi advice on how to go about  helping to stop  bullying in their schools. She advised them that they can start their own “In Our Own Words” youth led anti-bullying campaign by having ASK Academy help them form a Climate Committee. 







Some of the comments were…

“Thank you! The PSA’s were informative and inspiring”

“Thank you, that was great!”

Thank you for the popcorn and the candy”


Since the theme of the conference was “Embracing who you are and celebrating how that unites us all!”, Cyndi ended by saying  “we are all entitled to our own opinions but no one should be bullied for being different. Our imperfections and unique qualities should bring us together and should be embraced by all. We all need to learn how to become allies instead of bystanders.”  All of the participants said The popcorn and candy that she gave the attendees were a hit!   To continue the conversation and strategizing, there will be a Follow up discussion on Bully Free Radio coming soon...

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Put Ups vs. Put Downs

12/3/2014

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It was one of those days I was a substitute teacher, taking a class at a school and I was quite taken aback by an incident that happened in the school. As it turned out, it was not a very pleasant experience. A young student approached me and shared her experience regarding bullying that had disturbed her.

As it happened, one of her classmates was bullying another student during the recess. She told me that the one bullied asked her if it was wrong that he was born and that one of the students stated that ‘he should have never been born’.

In order to understand the situation better, I tried to discuss the same with the other students. The one accused of bullying informed me that, “Yes, I was mean to him, because he said mean things to me.”  “He said I think I’m cool but I’m not, and that I play with my hair too much, and I am a girl”. I then talked to the other boys to get the complete picture. As I suspected, both of them had said mean things to each other, trying to Put-down one another and that there were other boys involved in the incident, but some reason the boy named only one. I learned that this back and forth behavior has been going on for almost a year.


The full-time teacher for whom I was substituting had earlier briefed me about the inappropriate and conflicting nature of the conversation amongst boys who seems to be friends. She told me that such incidents start off as fun but many of them escalates into fights. Since I was to substitute her for the day, she had allotted time toward the end of the day for me to conduct a classroom seminar on “Strategies and Alternatives to bullying each other in class and on the yard”. I suggested to her that, I could do an Appreciation Circle activity around Put-Ups vs. Put-Downs.  I told her about my experiences growing up and being in “capping” sessions, where my peers and I would take turns to verbally attack each other.  A lot of times these sessions would turn into serious fights.

I had the whole class divide into groups of four and take turns giving each other put-ups.  They had to find something nice, or encouraging to say about each other and get used to the way they felt giving the put-up and receiving the put-up.  

Appreciation circle turned out to have a positive influence on the students. Not only they were looking for something appreciable in others, but also more importantly they were learning to look at the ‘Glass half full rather than half empty’. This is one small focused measure ASK Academy takes that helps our students to find ways to build peace among peers on a daily basis and to ignore confrontations that lead to nowhere.


What are some strategies that you utilize for addressing school-yard or classroom bullying?

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A Day at the Men’s Health Symposium 2014

9/26/2014

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Don't be one of those who waits for
 the 'time to be right' to take action on your goals. 
If there's something you really want to do
 - if there is a physique you want to achieve,
 then find a way to do it now! ~ Anonymous






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The above are just words of encouragement; but if you can muster their intended message, they definitely help you evolve into someone you want to be. We were recently invited to Mills Peninsula Health Center in San Mateo California for the Men’s Health Symposium 2014.  Organized by the African- American Health Advisory Committee, the main objective of this event was providing information about the prevailing health concerns among men, and cultivating ideas about activities/resources that motivate and encourage healthy living.  It is a great and eye opening experience learning about what you can achieve if you are willing to step outside your comfort zone.

What does it mean to be healthy? You cannot call yourself healthy just because you are physically fit and carry six pack abs. The Men’s Health Symposium, invited various experts and keynote speakers to share their view on topics such as financial health, nutrition, and mental health.  Financial health is directly related to your mental health. Low paying jobs, family responsibilities, power and status in the society, loans and debts and many more issues affect your financial health and in turn your mental health.

Mental, physiological and financial are components of your "health triangle". All of these components are interdependent. For example, if your mental health is poor, it might lead to bad eating habits as you try to cope with sadness, or depression and will de-motivate you to live healthy. Thus, poor mental and emotional health has a negative effect on your physical health. If you analyze your day-to-day life there are 3 main factors that affect your mental health:

·   Hereditary Factor

Passing of traits from parents to offspring.

·   Physical Factor

Physical state of the individual has a direct effect on mental health.

·   Socio-cultural Factor

Individuals develop attitudes and beliefs from past experiences.



Moving the discussion to nutrition and fitness, Personal Trainers discussed the rudimentary nature of cardio exercises and following diets from magazines and online blogs as an “ordinary” approach to fitness. The diet that you eat should be tailored to your body, weight, height, routine, metabolism and body mass-index (BMI).  Eating right and living right is the key to fitness.   Also, maintaining a healthy environment around you, and making good decisions,  keeps away the viral and bacterial infections including STD's or STI's (sexually transmitted infections)
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The  AACHAC and ASK Academy are soon organizing follow-up focus groups to determine the needs of young men (age 35 and younger) and means to address their health concerns. We will soon be out with the details in our next post. Till then remember, “You deserve better, and yes, even if that means going out of your comfort zone.”


For more information on mental and physical health services, events and activities go to http://www.aachac.org


  1. Photo gallery http://www.aachac.org/index.php/event/2013-mens-health-symposium/?gpage=2

  2. Photo gallery http://www.aachac.org/index.php/event/2013-mens-health-symposium/?gpage=2

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School Has Started...So Has The Bullying!

9/18/2014

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“"What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support, and friendship."

- Terry Tempest Williams”
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The month of August is always a fresh start to the new year at school when students, teachers, parents and school authorities work towards one ultimate goal- Free flow of the academic course. While students get busy with their orientation and registration, the school authorities move on to defining the academic calendar and planning the activities that will take place during the year.

Our focus area this year has moved on to creating a Bully-free environment in all the schools in California, achieved by informing parents, teachers and students and providing ideas to sidestep this ideological landmine. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social. It can happen in the classroom, on the playground, on the school bus, in the neighborhood, over the Internet, or through mobile devices. Following are some steps to stop bullying:

  • Students should be taught various behavioral measures to face and respond to bullying such as making a strong eye contact with the bully, standing tall and staying calm in a difficult situation or completely ignoring the bully by walking away.

  • Making students aware of the right person to ask for help.

  • Students should alert school officials about instances of bullying and work with the authorities towards a solution.

  • Appointing a student representative who will monitor social media interactions publicly.

  • Organizing Anti-Bully workshops and thus providing stop bullying information to students, teachers, and school authorities.

  • Developing practical solutions with the school authorities, teachers, and students to discourage Bullying.1


Ensuring that every school has a School Climate Committee will help in maintaining a peaceful environment in the school and surroundings. This committee will provide a path to promote peace and peer education at the school and answer critical questions such as - How to maintain a culture of peace outside the events and seminars? How to help the students respond effectively when someone is inappropriate or disrespectful toward them? Ultimately the question arises - What to do to stop bullying? Leadership workshops can be conducted to work on measures to promote peace and peer mentoring at the school.

To face such issues related to Bullying, it is important that the students gain control of the situation and finally 
stop the bully. We researched on various public schools across California and observed that most of the schools encouraged their students to participate in sports, drama and dance, and subject matter interschool competitions. However, most of the schools lagged in providing support on crucial factors for individual development such as Leadership, Public Speaking, Organizing Agendas, Conflict management and many more. In the ever-evolving socio-economic environment, it is really necessary that students be well exposed to the challenges and hardships one can face in the forthcoming future.

Check out this video for more tips on bullying: “Ways to Stop Bullying” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTuA_tlZDE


ASK Academy helps in organizing workshops on various topics such as  “The Art of Public Speaking”, “How to be a Leader” and many more. These workshops help High school and University students eradicate bullying activities.



Source:

1. Back to School tips, 8/1/2014

http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Back-to-School-Tips.aspx

2.  Back To School Quotes To Start The Year Off Right
8/28/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/backtoschool-quotes_n_3831072.html






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How To Survive and thrive Bully Free

3/26/2014

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How To Survive And Thrive Bully Free





Learn How to Survive and Thrive in a violent world.  Listen to Danielle Davis talk about her personal experiences and her work with the most "High Risk" Youth in San Francisco. 

Click Here to hear her interview on
 Bully Free Radio:
bit.ly/1gCH4BQ



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More Youth Leaders:  Meet the students from Jefferson High School

3/5/2014

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More Youth Leaders:
Meet the students from Jefferson High School



All of the nine Jefferson High School students participating in the “In Their Own Words” anti-bullying campaign have witnessed different types of bullying on their campus. They have experienced being bullied or being the bully themselves. For many of the students,  this is the main reason why they are Peer Educators; they want to create unity and peace among their schoolmates.




Read Entire Article.  Click Here:  goo.gl/iJijRA


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    Shakeel Ali

    Shakeel Ali is an Educator, Entrepreneur, and Gun Violence Survivor.

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